Wyandotte Street – Walkerville – July 2001

An interesting look back at the liveliest block in Old Walkerville, as it appeared in July 2001. The corner store just closed in 2013, but what a difference. This has always been one of my favourite blocks in the city. Definitely the most original Edwardian commercial block in the city.

A specialty grocery store would be usefull in this hood but I would much rather see somebody open an upscale bar celebrating the history of distilling and brewing in the area. A place one could stop in for a night cap after a great meal at any of the nearby establishments. Lots of old photos,maybe some live music from the period. I’d be the first to make a place like this a regular stop on a Friday or Saturday evening out on the town.
Vito are you listening ???

I travel a lot for work, and often end up in little towns, or passing through them. I just drove to and from Springfield, OH To get there, you take US-68, which has some small town along the way. Those, and most of the other states’ small towns I’ve been to, still look like this. Not just for one block, but usually for 5 or 6 square blocks. Windsor isn’t a “small town” necessarily, but how did they manage to preserve so much history, and Windsor has torn so much of it down?

When I look at that picture, I see back to 1908. His Royal Highness King Edward VII sits calmly on the throne in the jolly ol’ UK. But in front of these fine shops there is much commerce going on. Two horse-drawn carriages are parked to the left. Some finely dressed ladies are bustling by, on their way to inspect the latest fashion styles. Two fine gents pass each other on the sidewalk, tipping their hats at one another and saying, “Mornin’, govn’r!” At the street corner stands a police constable, patrolling intently for ne’er-do-wells intent on starting trouble. A friendly shopkeeper calls out to his patrons from the entrance of his business. Times are good. Business is good. People are friendly. It is Windsor.

Windsorshane – I don’t have a photo but that lot used to be a block of buildings that burned down in the summer of 2003. Way back in the ancient 1980s, there was an arcade in one of the stores my friends and I went to once. We stopped going because it was pretty rough inside. I remember how odd the old hood looked without it, but now I’m just used to it.

This picture reminds me of the Walkerville I grew up in, back when it was a working class neighbourhood. The changes in the past ten years have been interesting to see.

The building that burned down across the street was the one that happened during the blackout of ’03. Someone left a pot on the stove and left the burner turned on, so when the power came back on it caught on fire.

I was working as a security guard for Group 4 Falck, back then and their offices are just a couple of blocks east. We used to take our cars to the garage that still stands across the street and I remember hearing about the apartment fire, and where it was and I was thinking the garage burned down, too. I was in the patrol division and they always worked on our cars, and they were always in bad shape. Maybe that wasn’t all the garage’s fault, though. Maybe it was our managers that wouldn’t pay for anything.